the interesting idea... the start of this project... the conversations to come

I'm a member of Post Crossing, the internet site for postcard exchange. I sent a card to another Post Crosser, Ilona from Germany. She asked that people tell her which magical power they would like to have. Her question really made me think!

In turn, I thought it would be an interesting project to ask people to pose Thought-Provoking Questions. I would do my best to answer with my opinion, and I would encourage others to add theirs.

And, so was born this blog! I hope that it will be the home for many interesting conversations in the year ahead!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

If tomorrow we lost the ability to generate electricity, what would you miss the most?

She says music although she also points out that we could handcrank our phonographs. (Not sure precisely how we might hand crank our CD players, or for that matter, our Ipods... teeny tiny little cranks, I suppose!)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

For my last Post Crossing project, as some may know, I listed 50 items in "scavenger hunt" fashion. I received MOST of the items. One item was "carnival;" another was "circus." Jennifer, to whom I sent a card in December of 2009, found the card you see here, and I just received it. I love cards like this! It's a vignette of a life I could only barely imagine.

It's actually a picture of a real person, Koo-Koo the Bird Woman. She was a performer in a sideshow, at the time when people with unusual physical features found one way to make something of a living - as a "freak."

When I googled her name, I found many images sprinkled about the WWW, along with an interesting biographical sketch on the "Phreeque" website. I'm posting the link, along with the advisory that some of the images on this site are disturbing:

Friday, May 20, 2011

From Puerto Rico (where I've visited twice and love three times over!) comes a) a hot FIRE-EATER and b) a cool question!

In last year's scavenger hunt, I listed "Fire Eater" as one of my desires, and at last I have one - and a very slick one it is.

The sender also posed a good question:

What super power would you like to have?

That question, in fact, was the inspiration for this whole blog! Someone else asked that in the Post Crossing Profile, and I decided I wanted to know more questions. So, maybe the super power that I want is the power to generate conversation!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

I'd be hip deep in herring! Many PostCrossers want to know about wishes, like Isebelle:

If you could realize one simple wish, what would it be?

My wish is always the same: peace. It's not such a simple wish, however; and that's what she asked for. A simpler wish: for the number of socks going into the laundry to equal the number of socks coming out of the laundry.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Time is a weird thing. Sometimes, I feel hardly old at all; other days... well I DID write 102 in the title!

Another thing about this card and time that's weird is that it was sent to me 269 days ago (on Auguest 16, 2010)! And yet, it responds to my PostCrossing Profile TPQ challenge, which I posted on my birthday last year (September 10). Somehow, nearly a month before I even conceived of the idea, Chris was able to formulate a question to send. Tricky business, this time thing.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Prixilla from Brazil ponders a question I still ponder, at a point much older than she is:

I just started in college and I am dedicating a year only to studying but it is not in the course of my dreams. I want to be a fashion designer but I didn't pass. Should I keep trying or try to like the course I'm in?

I'm tempted to trot out my "wise old woman" costume and dispense sage advice - something having to do with "following your dream" or something having to do with "making a living." Truth is, at the age of "just started in college," she's got lots of time to do both!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

There's a common opinion in Europe about Americans that they know nothing about the world and are only interested in their own backyard. Is it true?

Of course, there are vast numbers of Americans who are true citizens of the world, but I'd have to say that the opinion is rooted in reality. It comes, in part, from the fact that our "backyard" is so vast that we lose sight of the rest of the planet. Perhaps as the planet "shrinks," this phenomenon will cease to be true.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Do primary and secondary school teachers enjoy high social status in the USA?

Wouldn't it be lovely if they did?

Just pondering this question made me remember several of my teachers. Thanks, Miss Henion, Mrs Short, and particularly Miss DeFreese for "not catching" me reading my story books when I should have been reading my text books!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Yikes! Just think about all those people who are driving while texting, checking email, applying makeup, shaving, reading the paper, eating three-course meals! What would happen to us if they were behind the controls of hovercrafts?